September 15, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #114 NEGATIVE SPACE

“I frequently leave areas of raw, unprimed canvas unpainted…’Negative’ space has just as active a role as the ‘positive’ painted space.  The negative spaces maintain shapes of their own and are not empty.” – Helen Frankenthaler This week Amy is inviting us to explore the use of Negative Space in our photography.  By definition Negative Space is the area surrounding the main subject in a photograph which is left unoccupied. Creating this Space around the subject helps communicate the composition of the photograph and automatically draws the eyes to the subject. These pictures show how incorporating Negative Space can enhance the overall image.  For example, in this first picture notice how…

September 10, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #113 A LABOR OF LOVE

“A Labor of Love is exalted because it provides joy and self-expression to those who perform it.” – Dennis Kimbro This week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge topic is A Labor of Love.  Rusha wants us to recognize those who go the distance and accomplish things which impact life for others in a meaningful way.  Labors of Love can be found around us, all the time.  It is often easy to identify and appreciate what others do for the better good of so many. The volunteers below are members of the Kiawah Island Loggerhead Turtle Patrol Program in SC.  Their dedication and Labor of Love helps protect endangered Loggerhead Turtles by monitoring…

September 3, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #112 PICK A WORD

Anne-Christine invites us to Pick A Word this week, one or more from this list – Comfortable, Growing, Crowded, Exuberant or Tangled.  Then illustrate it with photos.  I decided to share photos of our two Cocker Spaniels, Chester and Bentley, as they were growing up.  (You are able to double click each image to view in full screen.)  “Where there is love there is life.” – Mahatma Gandhi During their first several weeks together, Chester and Bentley stayed close to each other and were comfortable sleeping together.  This was the beginning of the strong bond between them.  (Bentley was 10 weeks old here and Chester 11 months.) As a puppy,…

August 29, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #111 EVERYDAY OBJECTS

Everyday Objects or Things is the word challenge for the week.  Things we normally see and take for granted, hardly giving them a second glance. “There’s a world out there.  Open a window, and it’s there.” – Robin Williams This week, Patti, http://pilotfishblog.com, is challenging us to spend an extra second or so to really look at something and view it from a new perspective.  We recently arrived at our home in Maine so I decided to walk around the house with ‘new eyes’, looking for a topic.  When in the kitchen/dining room area, out of habit my eyes automatically went to the windows.  So easy to take windows, curtains…

August 20, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #110 Creativity During Covid

This week Tina asked us to share a few things we did over the past few months when the covit pandemic created a worldwide social recession.  “Creativity is the gift that keeps on giving” – Eric Maisel Catching up on long overdue projects around the house, spending more time learning from webinars and working to improve my photography skills became more of a priority. My husband and I spent mornings on the beach.  Exploring with my camera was both mentally and physically rewarding as he walked around enjoying the scenery.  It was during this period a few photography friends spotted a reddish egret – white morph hanging out with some…

August 13, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #109 The Sun – A Road Trip North

“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.” – Helen Keller This week Amy challenges us to feature pictures of the Sun.  Saturday, when she announced our word challenge, my husband and I were traveling north up the east coast from South Carolina to Maine.  Not knowing what images to share, I decided on photographing the sun various times during the last leg of our three day journey to Maine.  These images were taken on Sunday during a seven hour period with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, from inside the car at 70+ miles an hour.  (If you’d like, double click each image to view…

August 4, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #108 SANCTUARY

“Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” – Hermann Hesse This week Xenia from Tranature.com is challenging us to share our thoughts about our Sanctuary, where we find it and how we create our place of calm and healing.  Be sure to check out her blog. My Sanctuary is a place I can visit either literally or figuratively.  It is a brief retreat from a daily routine plus ever changing events I cannot control.  The importance of a personal sanctuary is to create a balance between a hectic lifestyle and a time to relax and clear my mind. …

July 29, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #107 WINTER

This week Ann-Christine suggests we post the last topic in this series featuring the four seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. “I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape—the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” – Andrew Wyeth When winter is mentioned, many people think about snow and cold temperatures although in the southern states close to the Atlantic Ocean it is normally fairly warm and sunny.  Usually we spend our winters on Kiawah Island and the temperatures here generally range from the 40’s  to 60’s.  Snow is such a rarity that when it…

July 19, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #106 AUTUMN

This week Patti wants us to continue thinking about the four seasons; this week the topic is Autumn.  Be sure to visit her post and enjoy the lovely autumn images. To me Autumn is about the beautiful colors Mother Nature creates as the air gets cooler and tree leaves change to glorious oranges, reds and yellows. Maine as well as other states in New England have a well-deserved reputation as being one of the prettiest areas during the fall months.  Over the past years my husband and I have spent our summers in southern Maine,  and occasionally stay through the fall and winter months.  Such a treat to be there…

July 15, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #105 SPRING

This week Tina selected Spring as our photo word challenge.  After thinking about this topic, I decided to approach the topic of Spring a little differently by focusing on an event that occurs each spring on Kiawah Island when Red Knots or Calidris canutus rufa begin to arrive. These birds leave their winter home on the coast of southern Chile and Argentina and journey to the mainland and islands above the Arctic Circle; a one-way trip of more than 9,300 miles or 14,966.9 kilometers!  For years now Kiawah’s beach is a stop-over in their semi annual migration. Red Knots are amazing birds and one of my favorites.  They are documented as being…